backofthenetfandomcom-20200214-history
Henning Berg
Henning Stille Berg (born 1 September 1969) is a retired Norwegian defender, most famous for his time at Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United. To date, he holds the distinction of being the only player to have won the English Premier League with two different clubs and not been a complete prick in the process. Berg also played 100 times for his native Norway. Early Days Like baby-faced striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær and ginger-haired animal John Arne Riise, Berg began life in Norway. After impressive stints at Vålerenga and Lillestrøm, he was approach to sign for Manchester United. Unfortunately, the move fell through when he failed to secure a work permit for accidently answering 'Yes' to the question on the customs form asking if he was carrying mushrooms or other fungi. In 1993, all that mess was sorted out and Berg was instead signed by Blackburn Rovers for 400k. Blackburn Rovers Berg was an integral part of Blackburn's extremely brief spell as a big club in English football, culminating in their incredible Premier League triumph. It's hard to imagine nowadays, but even as late as 1995, a side like Blackburn could spend a lot of money on a few players and win the Premier League. These days, clubs like Man City have to spend a shit load of money on a few players just to get into the UEFA Cup. Berg was part of a team that boasted Alan Shearer , Chris Sutton (while he was good), Graeme Le Saux , David Batty and Tim Flowers. Blackburn would sensationally beat Man Utd to the title on the last day of 1995 season, sending Blackburn and most of Manchester into raptures but upsetting glory-seeking United 'fans' the World over into tears. A rule was promptly passed by the FA that Manchester United may only be on the dispensing end of infuriating last minute turnarounds. Sensing the changing tide, Berg left to United for £5m, which was a lot of money in those days. Nowadays that kind of money would scarcely buy you a third of Darren Bent. Manchester United Berg played for United at an extremely tedious time in English football when they won just about everything, with other teams barely even making an effort. He was part of the side that in 1999 deservedly won both the League and the FA Cup, but didn't deserve to win the Champions League. The arrival of Jaap Stam moved Berg down the United pecking order, however, making into more of a squad player. After finally being diagnosed with partial deafness resulting from being constantly bellowed at by Peter Schmeichel, Berg decided he'd had enough and returned to Blackburn, first on loan and then permanently. It proved to be a mistake for United, when Stam chose to reveal that he was somewhat of a twat in his autobiography Head to Head, in which he slagged off team-mates, opposing players and claimed that his transfer for PSV to United had not been entirely legitimate. He was promptly sold to Lazio, where it emerged that he was also partial to the odd bit of drug taking. United signed Laurent Blanc as a replacement, but he turned out to be utter shit. Back in Black(burn) Blackburn been as successful as Berg in his time away, their money having dried up and the club having been relegated. Nevertheless, Berg managed to captain them to the League Cup in 2002. In 2003, Berg decided that he'd had enough of playing competitive football for a living and moved to Rangers to win the SPL every other year. Nice Bloke All-in-all Henning Berg seemed like he was probably quite a nice bloke; the kind of man you'd trust to take your kids to Alton Towers for the day. He is therefore the only known player to win the Premier League with two different clubs without performing shameless acts of bitchcraft in the process. This is not to say that other players have not managed one or the other. Ashley Cole and Nicolas Anelka won the title with both Arsenal and Chelsea, but along the way they managed to alienate millions of fans with the kind of outrageous demands and arrogance you'd expect from some prima-donna pop singer. Matthew Le Tissier was a fairly decent sort of bloke - betting scandals aside - but he never even came close to winning anything with Southampton. Category:Former Players Category:Norwegian Internationals